Finally getting covid, and the lengthy days of laying around and being isolated during recovery, got me thinking and feeling in all sorts of ways. One of which brought me back to this blog. Propelled by the mini freak out I had when I lost the sense of smell and taste, and a dear friend recently asking me if I thought about posting again - it felt like the right time.
Food vices weren't going to bring me comfort without smell and taste. And it was going to be a while before I could be around people. So what could bring me comfort? What really makes me happy? You know, small questions like that.
And with that, I went down a rabbit hole - I was watching OK Go music videos...finding Instagram photographers to follow....and looking through old travel photos. Somehow, it did the trick. I came across a note I wrote many years ago while traveling on a train in Europe. One that reminded me and inspired me. Here's what I wrote:
When I was in college, there were train tracks near my dorm. At night, the sound of the passing trains used to carry my thoughts away and bring me into sleep. Now, I’m traveling on a train, and it’s doing the opposite by opening up thoughts. Or perhaps I’m picking up others thoughts along the way - but I’m not sure I’m ready to believe big universe thoughts like that.
Could it be that time slows down as you are sitting in the train car, yet you and your mind are being carried somewhere else as you watch places go by. There must be writers or composers out there that create their best works during travel, the same way some get inspired by seeing a particular piece of art.
There has always been something about me and travel. I feel at ease, my mind breathes – if that makes any sense at all. It doesn’t matter what it is - car, train, driving on the freeway, walking on a woodland trail or feet on the ground in Spain. It’s the act of moving and the discovery of people, places, and moments that await. As Ben Gibbard sang about Karouac’s travels “These roads don’t move, you’re the one that moves.”
